Mounting a Flatscreen TV

We haven’t touched our TV since packing it up last April but decided it was time to just do it. Part of the hesitation was we haven’t painted the walls yet and we didn’t want to install a TV mount knowing we’d probably have to uninstall it to paint– but last weekend David and I just said what the heck. (Side note: we’re not going to paint the walls until we’ve replaced the pipes, which keeps getting put off but will hopefully start by the end of this week. Replacing all the plumbing in the house will require making big holes in the walls, unfortunately.)

Many considerations go into the best way to mount a TV, but in our case, the biggest was location. Our family room does not quite have an obvious location for a TV (mostly because we may want to take down the wall between the family room and the kitchen one day), so to get the best of both worlds, we decided to get a swiveling mount. I hadn’t heard of such a mount, but it seems quite ideal for our situation: the TV does not have to be centered on a wall because it can rotate out when you are watching; then when you aren’t watching, it swivels and stores against the wall. Brilliant!

Here’s how we installed it:

First, we found the stud in the wall. The mounting kit we got came with a stud finder, which basically amounted to a magnet…and apparently amused David!

Then we attached the TV bracket and measured out exactly how far from the floor or ceiling you want the center of the TV to be.

Our next step wasn’t strictly necessary, but since David “volunteered,” we decided to use the eyeball test to confirm where we wanted the TV.

Then the drilling began…

So the wall anchor can be screwed in nice and tight!

Lastly, we mounted the TV bracket to the anchor…

And Voila! It can move around like they advertised!!

Ta da! Look at how cool the TV can be at different angles.

Here is another glance at the finished product. Now we can watch tv sitting from the couch (which is opposite the two green chairs) and when we’re not watching it, it’s out of the way tucked in the corner.

And yes, we do plan to drill a hole in the wall for the power cable to go through, but that’s another project for another day.

2 comments

Very cool!!! Love your DIY projects. I love that the TV is tucked away (love even more that you haven’t even hung it or thought about it since moving – so many other interesting things to do in life). So question: it looks like the door might could hit the screen if thrown open too hard or without thinking – is that a concern?